October 2023

Last week ended with a dire flood of layoffs in the games industry, including Sega, Ubisoft, Blizzard, and Epic games. Unfortunately, this week seems to be following the trend – Team17, developer of the Worms series, and publisher of games like Blasphemous, Dredge, and more, has announced layoffs as well, according to Eurogamer.

The job losses, which are due to a "company restructure," will eliminate about 50 positions from the company, and the majority of those positions will be in the publisher's QA department. Eurogamer also reports the news was delivered to employees during an emergency town hall meeting this morning.

In addition to members of the QA team, Team17 CEO Michael Pattison will also be stepping down, according to a statement received by VG247. This stands in sharp contrast to many other recent layoffs, where executives had been exempt from cost-cutting measures. You can read the full statement below.

Bilkins' Folly is a throwback pirate adventure game that's out today on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC. It's a game that's been on my radar since earlier this year: both because I love most anything related to pirates and because, well, Bilkins' Folly looks great. Between its visuals, throwback gameplay, nautical tunes, and modern reimaginings of old-school adventure gameplay, it caught my attention. And now it's finally out!

I spoke to developer Webbysoft, who is mostly just one person based in Australia, about Bilkins' Folly ahead of the game's release over email. We discussed the game's inspiration, the challenges of the adventure genre, the game's gibberish language, how the idea of it came from a missing wedding ring, and much more. 

You can read our full interview below – enjoy!

An Interview With Webbysoft About Bilkins' Folly

Game Informer's Wesley LeBlanc: Is Webbysoft just you or do you have a team? 

The Monster Hunter Orchestra Concert 2023 was already held. However, people who either missed the concert or want to listen to the performances again will have the opportunity to get its permanent archive. Capcom and Harmonics have recorded the concert in high quality and they will release the album in late October 2023. The physical album's booklet will include exclusive explanations of the tracks that appeared in the setlist.

Pre-orders for the album are available first on Harmonics' online store with a price tag of ¥4,070 (~$27). The company will ship the orders domestically in Japan on October 23, 2023. It will then bring the album to other music stores around Japan while releasing a high-resolution digital album in 24-bit and 96 kHz on October 25, 2023. The album will also be available on other online storefronts like iTunes Store on November 1, 2023.

Motoaki “Yagoo” Tanigo, the CEO of Cover Corporation, announced he will no longer model Hololive merchandise. He took to social media to note that his last appearances took place in September 2023. He would often appear online holding or modeling merchandise, from hats to socks. 

Here’s the announcement Yagoo made noting his Hololive merchandise modeling career is over. He cited his age, noting he’s about to be 50.

Following that, Yagoo and a number of members of Hololive shared images of him modeling merchandise online. For example, Choco Yuzuki shared this image of him wearing her hat.

The Amazon Prime Big Deal Days sale has begun, and with it comes PC gaming deals on a scale you won’t see outside of Prime Day itself. Or Black Friday. Or the Amazon Spring Sale, come to think of it. Jeff, mate, sure you've got enough of these things?

Ecommerce saturation aside, I will say that Prime Big Deal Days – which runs until the end of October 11th – does serve up some respectable price cuts across the usual wide breadth of PC gaming hardware. They're on the stuff you’d actually want, too – there are discounts on some of the finest SSDs, peripherals, CPUs, and even graphics cards that we’ve shunted through the RPS test labs. In this guide, I’ve picked out only the best of the best deals; if there’s a PC upgrade worth having from Prime Big Deal Days, you’ll find it here.

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Every weekend, indie devs show off current work on Twitter's #screenshotsaturday tag. And every Monday, I bring you a selection of these snaps and clips. This week, my eye has been caught by retro-styled adventure games and city-builders, phenomenally cool fishing rod violence, and some sort of horrible sentient milk glands. Check out all these attractive and interesting indie games!

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In the frozen hellscape of Frostpunk, you eked out your existence in hours and days, clinging to your heat- and life-giving generator at the centre of your fledgling city like there was literally no tomorrow. In 11 bit Studio's forthcoming sequel, Frostpunk 2, the apocalypse is yesterday's news. Now you're dealing with "what happens when you survive the un-survivable," as the game's co-director and design director Jakub Stokalski neatly puts it when I sit down for a hands off presentation at this year's Gamescom. And to do this, Frostpunk 2 is going big, measuring its time not in days, but weeks, months and even years.

"If we want to show the evolution of societies and different utopias/dystopias, we need breathing room," says Stokalski. "And this breathing room really is in the scale, both in the physical sense but also in the sense of time. It's difficult to show meaningful social change in the space of a month, so the time ticks now in weeks and months, and in a long playthrough you'll get up into years, so you can see the consequences of your choices."

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Six games are set to leave Xbox Game Pass in the next two weeks, including Trek to Yomi.

Want to know more about Trek to Yomi? Well, let me quickly samurai-se it for you. In Trek to Yomi, which is set in Japan during the Edo period, players take on the role of a young warrior named Hiroki. Hiroki will have to face the "forces of evil" as he tries to make amends for failing to protect his village from a brutal onslaught.

The Black-and-white samurai curio is set to leave the service on 16th October, so if you were interested in taking up your sword and having a go for yourself, but hadn't managed to get round to it yet, this is a little reminder to snap it up while you can.

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EA Sports FC 24, the latest soccer game in the series previously known as FIFA, has only been out for a little over a week and its loot box antics are already causing some fans to lose it in frustration. The Elite Season Opener Pack costs $30 and went live during the game’s paid “early access” period, jumpstarting the…

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It’s all downhill from there. Twitter user @Dirty_Worka had taken a close look at the image of the moon and declared it evidence of an imminent reveal. This moon in the picture is apparently in the Waning Gibbous phase (when the lit-up part of the Moon shrinks from 99.9% to 50.1%). The real moon enters the Waning Gibbous phase today, October 2. Coincidence?

The latest Yu-Gi-Oh figure will be a Jaden Yuki Nendoroid produced by Good Smile Arts Shanghai. This new collectable was announced at Wonder Festival Shanghai 2023. A prototype sculpt and preview image was shown in a post from the Good Smile US official social media account. Neither a price nor a release date for it appeared just yet, but the manufacturer asked customers to stay tuned for more information on this release.

Take a look at the announcement and prototype photo in the post below:

[embed]https://twitter.com/GoodSmile_US/status/1708646251070189978[/embed]

Jaden Yuki is the main protagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh GX. It appears that his spirit partner Winged Kuriboh will also be included with the Nendoroid. The Nendoroid figure will feature Jaden in his signature red jacket.

In other Yu-Gi-Oh Nendoroid news, Good Smile Company has also recently announced that the Yami Yugi figure, which was originally released in 2019, will be re-released. It will include all of the parts and pieces from the original release. Orders from the Good Smile Company US online store are expected to ship in Q2 2024.

A new Yu-Gi-Oh Jaden Yuki Nendoroid is in development, but a price and release window have yet to be revealed. Yu-Gi-Oh GX is available to stream on Crunchyroll.

A new prototype scale figure of The Legend of Heroes series heroine Estelle Bright was on display at the recent Wonder Festival 2023 Shanghai event. It is made by Kotobukiya.  The announcement was shared on the company's official social media account. Kotobukiya didn't announced a price or a release window.

You can out the announcement post to get a closer look at the Estelle Bright figure below. The design specifically adapts the official artwork of her from The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC into a 3D form.

[embed]https://twitter.com/kotobukiyas/status/1708640470157644247[/embed]

Estelle Bright is the main protagonist from the The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky trilogy. It is part of a series of anime RPGs developed by Nihon Falcom. It was first released in Japan on Windows PCs in 2004 before appearing worldwide on multiple platforms.

The Legend of Heroes series is still ongoing. The next game in the series is The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak. It is scheduled to release in the West in Summer 2024. It will be available for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Bandai announced that it will release Digimon Pendulum Color devices in 2024. The company made the reveal in 2023 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the original Digimon Pendulum device, which came out in 1998. [Thanks, 4Gamer!]

The new device will still have the same size as the original Digimon Pendulum, but it will come with a lot of new features. Other than full-colored sprites, the device will have an internal battery that the user can charge with a USB-C cable.

The new Pendulum will have a backup slot to store an additional Digimon or use it for Jogress / DNA Digivolutions. It can also interact with other Pendulums or the previously released Digimon Color devices to unlock even more monsters and backgrounds.

Bandai has uploaded a promotional movie for the Digimon Pendulum Color on YouTube. The Japanese trailer also includes English subtitles.

Niantic announced that there will be a Detective Pikachu Returns event in Pokemon GO. It will begin on October 5, 2023. That’s the day before the sequel shows up on the Nintendo Switch. This means we’ll see Pikachus wearing detective hats in the game, as well as a Slowpoke in a hat. Also, Pokemon that will show up in the spin-off will appear more frequently. There will also be special Field Research with three sorts of Pokemon appearing.

First, here’s the list of Pokemon people will see in the wild from the game. While Niantic noted the Detective Hat Pikachu can be evolved into Raichu, it didn’t note if the Slowpoke in a hat can be evolved. You can also force an encounter with the Pikachu by taking one screenshot. 

• Alolan Exeggutor
• Bellossom
• Bronzor
• Chimecho
• Cutiefly
• Ducklett
• Falinks

Bandai produced a new toy replicating the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit from the series One Piece by Eiichiro Oda. Premium Bandai will begin taking pre-orders for the toy on October 2, 2023 in Japan. International shipping will be available. It will cost 4,400 yen ($29.40), tax included. It is scheduled to ship in February 2024. [Thanks, Dengeki!]

The Devil Fruit replica is made of PVC and is approximately 180mm x 150mm. The toy will also come with one soda-flavored piece of gum with any purchase. The item will be sculpted and scaled to size, so it is accurate to the fruit’s actual size in the series.

The new Bandai Devil Fruit is a replica of the purple Gum-Gum Fruit, which is only one of the various kinds of Devil Fruits found in the series. When eaten, turns a person’s body to rubber. It is eaten by the protagonist Monkey D. Luffy in every adaptation of the story.

The new Devil Fruit replica from Bandai will be available to pre-order starting on October 2, 2023 in Japan. The item is expected to ship in February 2024. One Piece is available to stream on Netflix and Crunchyroll. The live-action adaptation is on Netflix. Viz Media handles the manga outside Japan.

The Pokemon Company announced that the next seven-star Tera Raid event in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will be against Hisuian Decidueye. The first run of the new event will take place from October 6-8, 2023. The second run of the event will be held from October 13-15, 2023.

When encountering Hisuian Decidueye in the seven-star Tera Raid, it will come with the Grass Tera Type. Players do not need to be subscribed to the Nintendo Switch Online service to participate in this event, but you do need the subscription to challenge it with other people. Only one Hisuian Decidueye can be captured per save data, but players can replay the seven-star Tera Raid within the time period to receive more rewards.

You can participate in Tera Raid Battle events by first making sure your Nintendo Switch is connected to the internet. Then, to participate in the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Raid, open the menu with the X button once you've opened the game and choose Poke Portal, then Check Poke Portal News. You should see the character in black dens after you've beaten the main campaign.

The next seven-star Tera Raid Battle event in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will feature Hisuian Decidueye. The event will run the first time from October 6-8, 2023 then again from October 13-15, 2023. The two new games are available worldwide on the Nintendo Switch.

Blackbird Interactive's next big thing is Homeworld 3, out February 2024, but Homeworld 3 has a little cousin, a new IP named Earthless, which tells approximately the same tale of a colony ship fleeing across the galaxy, but takes the form of a deck-building roguelite cardgame. Never one to say no to a bout of space strategy, I fired up a preview key over the weekend, and while I wouldn't say my pulse has jumped to hyperspace, I'm certainly enthused.

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Paradox have announced that they're publishing Channel 3 Entertainment's Foundry, a first-person factory management sim set in an... "infinite" world. Factories with no maximum size limit? Oh dear. I had a hard enough time shucking off my addiction to Dyson Sphere Program, in which you can build a factory that encloses the sun. I dread to think how much time I could waste away playing this.

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Mediatonic is best known for the colorful battle royale Fall Guys. Long before it was purchased by Epic Games, however, the UK-based studio created the international HD remaster of the cult-hit dating sim about pigeons that go to high school, Hatoful Boyfriend. The game’s original creator, manga artist Hato Moa, now…

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Sergiy Galyonkin, director of publishing strategy at Epic Games - and creator of Steam analytics website Steam Spy - has announced his departure from the Fortnite maker after nearly eight years, saying he is "not a good fit" for the "new version of Epic".

Galyonkin's career in the games industry spans more than two decades but he gained renown after establishing Steam Spy in 2015, a project he continued to run after joining Epic as Eastern European head of publishng in 2016. A year later, Galyonkin became the company's director of publishing strategy, with a specific focus on Epic's store, and he's remained in that role since.

Now, though, Galyonkin has revealed his time at the company is over. "Today is officially my last day at Epic Games," he wrote in a statement shared on Twitter. "These eight years have been some of the most exciting in my career, and I am deeply grateful to my former Epic Games colleagues and Tim Sweeney for allowing me to help build Epic 4.0."

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The Pikmin series has always been well liked, but even with its solid track record, Pikmin 4 surprised us with its quality and fun. To get some insight into how the game came together and learn about working with Shigeru Miyamoto, we spoke with chief and programming director Yuji Kando and planning director Yutaka Hiramuki over e-mail.

Game Informer: In 2015, Shigeru Miyamoto said in an interview that Pikmin 4 development was “very close to completion.” Was that statement inaccurate at the time?

Kando: After the development for Pikmin 3 ended, we started development for Pikmin 4 as a small team.

As we made several attempts and tried out various things, there were moments when we could see the game take shape, but since we had to prioritize other projects, we weren't able to create the development team framework needed to complete the game. But the fruits of our labor during that time lead to the result of what Pikmin 4 is today.

Hiramuki: We know the fans were worried since Pikmin 4 was taking a long time, but thanks to their patience, we were able to make a game that is enjoyable for many people.

Mega Man X Dive Offline is an interesting experiment, capturing years of content from the live-service mobile game Mega Man X Dive and turning it into a single-player experience. All that fretting about unlocking the characters you want in random draws? Gone. Just go get the character you want with in-game currency you unlock by playing levels. Missed a special event? Just go load it up. Cool skins, neat gear, and special unlockables are all at your fingertips just from playing the game. As someone who never played the mobile game, it’s so much fun, bite-sized content to play with. As a game, it’s a fantastic move toward preserving the history and efforts that go into many mobile games that normally disappear when they reach the end of service.

In this game, the digital world that contains the data from the Mega Man X series is a bit messed up. As the Player, you get called in to clean up the far-reaching mess that has spread throughout the various stages of the franchise. With that mess comes some strange placements for the various bosses and creatures you’ve fought over the years. Even the music itself tends to meander as you try to restore order to the place. The plot isn’t exactly deep stuff, but it’s enough to support the varied worlds you’ll explore throughout the game.

Official artwork and concepts for a My Melody member of the Sanrio Fragaria Memories project appeared on the official social media account. Merold, the knight of My Melody, debuted. You can read more about Merold and the other knights who have been announced so far on the official website. There is also a YouTube channel that will feature them.

You can see the post revealing Merold below. He is an empathetic man with a slow-paced attitude. He is so powerful that he’s known as the strongest knight on the entire continent. Thanks to him, My Melody has been able to build a stable kingdom in Sanrio Fragaria Memories. He loves his younger brother, but he doesn’t really convey that to him.

[embed]https://twitter.com/fragaria_sanrio/status/1708768793059545353?s=46&t=SNtyEdQZL6ezAJBHG2IubA[/embed]

He is voiced by Yu Hayashi. People may also recognize him as Enra in Final Fantasy Type-O, Peter Pan in Kingdom Hearts, and Mikey in Tokyo Revengers.

Merold is a member of the Red Bouquet in Fragaria Memories. Earlier, Sanrio announced all of the members of the Red Bouquet would be revealed first. So, we can expect to see another member of the Red Bouquet next.

As part of the WonFes 2023 Shanghai reveals, Good Smile Company showed the Oshi no Ko Aqua and Kana Nendoroids. Both of them seem close to release. Each one only appeared as a prototype, but they were painted prototypes.

Here’s a closer look at the two of them. They both are wearing their school uniforms. Kana is also wearing a hat, as usual. There’s a smiling face plate for Kana being used, and a neutral one for Aqua. None of their potential accessories were shown.

Part 3 of the Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War anime series was confirmed in a new announcement trailer for the upcoming season. Additionally, the trailer revealed that the release date for the new cour of episodes is set for 2024. However, no exact release window was given yet. Part 2 of the anime series concluded in 2023 with episode 26.

It is still unknown how many episodes the new cour will have. Part 1 of the new Bleach anime series was titled “The Blood Warfare”, with Part 2 titled “The Separation”. The official localized name for Part 3 will be “The Conflict”.

You can check out the new announcement trailer for Part 3 of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War here:

The recent spate of job losses across the video game industry in recent weeks and months is set to continue at Worms creator-turned-indie publishing powerhouse Team17. The UK company behind Worms, Blasphemous, Overcooked, Dredge and more is reportedly facing “significant” job losses and has seen its CEO depart as it looks to restructure.

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Ivar Hill and Slipgate's Core Decay is a Deus Ex and System Shock-flavoured immersive sim that's all about the ABCs. A, of course, stands for Attacking by means of things like energy rifles, electro-batons and shotguns. B is for Back-stabbing, referring to the stealthy player who may stack objects so as to clamber into vents, and whack guards deftly in the noggin to escape detection.

And C is for Conversing, referring to the act of wooing civilians - who thus far seem miraculously unbothered by your menacing hooded appearance and sepulchral accent - so as to procure door codes and the location of keycards. You can see all these approaches in the game's new trailer, below.

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In an accomplishment that truly makes my head and mouse-clicking finger hurt thinking about the sheer time and effort required, someone has become the first Final Fantasy 14 player to complete every single one of the MMO’s more than 2,700 achievements.

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The Pokémon franchise doesn’t scare me that often. Sure, when I see Pikachu take a hard hit in a battle, I’m scared for his health. When Giratina shows up to fight my beaten-down team at the end of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, that’s also terrifying because I’m running low on Pokémon to fight back. But in terms of actual…

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Today is the first day of former president Donald Trump’s $250 million fraud trial in New York. A case brought by the state’s attorney general accuses the Republican primary frontrunner of lying about his net worth by billions of dollars to try to secure more favorable loan terms. One of his attorneys, Alina Habba,…

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